Oracle (Dick Grayson)

Dick Grayson was a journalist and his wife, Barbara, a police officer. On Earth-2, their 5-year-old son, Tommy* had known only the specter of Apokolips and its repeated attacks on their world. It seemed that their heroes had finally triumphed over Darkseid's shock troops when the despot brought Apokolips — the predator planet — to prey upon Earth. The Grayson's were already uprooted, living under the scant protection of a camp in Chicago when the citizens of Earth began to prepare for worse. (Earth 2: World's End #1)

As Apokolips neared, Earth's heroic "wonders" mobilized to fight Darkseid's four Furies, and Major Sonia Sato of the World Army prepared to evacuate the planet. Society had already descended into chaos from previous battles, and as people scrambled for safety and sustenance, the Graysons tried to help keep the peace in their camp. (#3) Barbara was well trained in self-defense, but Dick was no fighter. They befriended Ted Grant, an ex-boxing champ who help the Graysons and offered Dick training when they could do it. (#6) Note: In original DC continuity, Ted Grant was Wildcat.

The Graysons tried relocating to an allegedly safer camp called Gomorrah, but they were taken prisoner and Barbara was intended to be sacrificed to a Parademon. When the beast was released, it flew off instead, and Dick and Barbara freed themselves. (Earth 2 #29)

People began going berserk as the Furies stormed the planet and the magician John Constantine (from an alternate universe) stepped up to recruit other super-humans (Brainwave, Obsidian, and Jonni Thunder) to fight. (Earth 2: World's End #8) This band arrived in Chicago just as Barbara Grayson was shot and killed while trying to board an outbound train. (#9) Dick and Tommy had no time to grieve; they were ambushed but saved by Constantine's band. Grayson was desperate to save his son from the planet's destruction and put Tommy on a train to escape an oncoming tidal wave. (#10)

Their destination was Atom's Haven, an underground bunker built by the Atom and Major Sato, in Oklahoma City. (#12) Ted challenged Dick to shake his depression and hone his hand-to-hand fighting skills. They left Chicago in hopes of reuniting with Tommy, and Grayson managed to hold his own against several thugs. (#13-15)

At the Haven, Brainwave tried to possess everyone with his mental powers and for some reason, Dick was unaffected by those powers. (#19-21) The Batman intervened and took down Brainwave with a batarang. (#22) Dick finally found Tommy again but they were not allowed to board the escape ships so once again, he was forced to entrust his son to strangers. He pleaded with a strange woman — who was Big Barda of Apokolips in disguise — to take him with her. Their ship lifted off with the rest of the fleet. (#24) Note: In Convergence #2, Dick said that this ship exploded.

Dick was hastily recruited by the Batman to help pilot another escape ship in an attempt to thin out the horde from Apokolips, while the other heroes converged on Darkseid himself. Meanwhile Mister Terrific and Terry Sloan figured out a way to shift the refugees into another universe. (#25) Darkseid was triumphant and Apokolips swallowed the Earth. (#26)

Convergence

After the refugee ships departed, Dick was stranded on the planet along with Superman, Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Yolanda Montez (the avatar of the Red). In Earth's final moment these heroes braced for a hit from Darkseid's deadly Omega beams. Instead, they became encased in a kind of liquid metal and emerged on another world. This world and its keeper were called Telos and it was home to many cities that were snatched from moments before their destruction. Telos told them theirs was the last that would ever be "collected." And all the cities would be forced to fight one another to survive. (Convergence #1)

When Telos departed, Batman took Dick to a nearby Gotham City, where Wayne accessed a Batcave. Grayson froze when Oracle — the vision of his wife, Barbara — greeted him on the screen. After a meeting between two Batmen, Thomas returned with a gift for Dick from his "son," a lightweight body suit made of high-tensile Kevlar. (#2)

A group of villains followed Thomas and Dick out of Gotham, and Batman sacrificed his life to blow them up. Grayson was thrown clear of the blast, but the Joker surprised him and shot Dick in the spine, rendering him paraplegic. (Telos returned just then, and snapped the Joker's neck.) (#3) Telos gifted to Dick a suit of armor that provided mobility and strength. Grayson showed compassion towards Telos; he challenged his benefactor to defy Brainiac and remember his own past. (#4) When Dick found a batarang in some wreckage, he applied it to his chest and accepted the cosmic connection between him and Batman. (#5) Even Superman recognized Dick's potential and stopped to encourage him, saying he might be the only one who could secure the help they would need from Telos. (#6)

Deimos of Skartaris had opposed Telos, but when Deimos was destroyed, his stolen temporal energies were loosed and threatened to shatter the multiverse. Telos' master, Brainiac, returned with the intent to right his wrongs. He and the heroes of the convergence managed to restore multiversal balance by preventing the first Crisis. Telos was to be cleansed, but the heroes Earth-2 refused to relocate to a new universe. Green Lantern's power shielded them from the destruction and when it was over, his power reconnected to the planet's Green life-force and restored its surface. Before departing for his own home, Telos shifted the planet into the Earth-2 universe and Green Lantern recalled the the refugee ships. (#8)

Batman III of Earth-2

Without Telos, Dick was left without his supportive armor. When the escape ships were guided down to a crash landing, one of them narrowly missed him and he was rescue3d by Mister Terrific. At some point after this, Dick decided to become Batman (III), and gained another suit that would give him mobility. He operated out of New Gotham, built around the wreckage of one of the space ships. (Earth 2: Society #1)

Note

Originally, in World's End, Dick's son was named "Johnny," but in Convergence, writer Jeff King used "Tommy." @CosmicTeams pointed this out and King replied, "John Thomas Grayson."

@CosmicTeams John Thomas Grayson 😃

— Jeff King (@JeffKingTV) April 16, 2015

Powers

Dick Grayson has no super-human powers, but he is aided by an armor that gives him the ability to stand and be mobile despite his paraplegia. He has been trained in hand-to-hand combat by ex-boxing champ Ted Grant.

Once, he found he had the innate ability to resist Brainwave's mental powers.

Appearances + References

» FEATURED APPEARANCES:  

» SERIES:

• Earth 2: World's End, 26 issues (2014–2015)
• Convergence, 9-issue limited series (2015)
• Earth 2: Society, 22 issues (2015–2017)

» SEE ALSO:

• Robin (Golden Age, Earth-Two)
• Robin (Earth-One, pre-Crisis)